Everyone is designing a new watch that looks and acts just like an old watch. Look at Pebble, look at Samsung. They don’t get it. If Apple were to design a new watch it wouldn’t look and act like an old watch with just a few features added to make everyone think it was smart. They would start from scratch, something new, something useful, the only thing in common with an old watch will be the name so that we can understand it. This is what they did with the iPhone, it is not like any phone before except in name. Here are some of my thoughts on what a new Apple designed watch will do.
1. It will be much larger than a regular watch. That is, a much bigger screen size. It will not be square, it will not be round. It will be like an iPod touch on your wrist (ok maybe not that big, but big!).
2. It will be unbelievably thin. Think how thin you think it could be and then make it even thinner. It will be so thin and light you will not believe it to be possible.
3. It will have unimaginably long battery life. Think weeks, maybe months, not days. So long that the rest of the industry will laugh at first saying that it is impossible.
4. It will be all screen. How do you adjust fashion to meet everyones styles and tastes? You do it with software! Everyone that wears it will make it look different, make it to match their style and mood. This thing will be so skinnable, it will redefine the term.
5. Oh, it will have a few features too. It might even be able to tell time, check your status, show some messages, report on your heart rate. At first, everyone will laugh and say it doesn’t do something that they heard of or thought of. It won’t matter, once the basic form factor is in place then it will grow. It will be better at everything eventually. The software will be amazing. Eventually a new SDK, new apps, new interactions, new ways to stay connected and share your life with your family and friends.